Is event ticket insurance really worth it?

In his article “Is event ticket insurance just for chumps?” David Lazarus of the Los Angeles Times walks his readers through the basics of ticket insurance policies.

How practical is insuring an event ticket? David Lazarus of the Los Angeles Times is skeptical.

In his article “Is event ticket insurance just for chumps?” Lazarus walks his readers through the basics of ticket insurance policies. As Lazarus points out, companies such as Ticketmaster don’t actually insure their own tickets — they receive coverage from third-party insurance companies such as Allianz.

Like many insurance plans, Lazarus discovered some odd terms and conditions for ticket event coverage. For example, the Allianz ticket insurance he researched provides reimbursement in the case of illness, house fires, and car troubles. “It also will cover you if you die,” he wrote in his weekly column. “Seriously it says that.”

Even more interesting than what ticket insurance does cover is what it doesn’t. If you miss the event because of pregnancy, depression, “personal reasons” or mental health issues, you are out of luck.

The most surprising areas not covered by event ticket insurance are ticket loss or cancelation of the event, two reasonably likely causes that are often outside the consumer’s control.

Allianz also felt the need to list war, terrorism, nuclear radiation and even pandemic disease as catastrophes not covered by their plan.

“My main beef is that there's too much that's not covered,” Lazarus wrote at the article’s conclusion. “Not least the possibility of the event being canceled because of circumstances beyond your control — or nuclear war breaking out.”

“That said,” he continued, “there's peace of mind in knowing that if you die of natural causes before a concert, you'll get a full refund.”